Indian companies in talks with Kazakhstan defence industries for co-production: Sanjay Jaju (IAS)

New Delhi: Joint Secretary (DIP) in the Ministry of Defence Sanjay Jaju (IAS) on Thursday said that several Indian companies are in talks with Kazakh defence industries for co-production and co-development in defence production, both India and Kazakhstan are looking at exploring opportunities which provide win-win solutions to the industries on both sides. He was speaking at the inaugural session of the India-Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation Expo, a two-day virtual expo jointly organized by FICCI and Ministry of Defence, Govt of India.

"India has come a long way in defence manufacturing. From a very paltry base, we now manufacture the entire range of equipment for all three verticals of the forces. These items range in the best in class artillery guns to battle tanks to bulletproof jackets to combat aircraft and the entire range of ships and submarines, missiles, and everything that is required in maintaining the sovereignty and defence of a nation," Jaju said.

"India has come a long way in defence manufacturing. From a very paltry base, we now manufacture the entire range of equipment for all three verticals of the forces"- Sanjay Jaju (IAS), Jt. Secretary, MoD

Elaborating on the action plan for the India– Kazakhstan Defence Industry Cooperation, Mr Jaju said that the one important factor that binds all industry is not only to manufacture in India for India but also manufacture for all our friendly foreign nations. "We need to leverage opportunities on both sides and create opportunities for not just for co-development and co-production but to also meet each other's requirements," he noted. 

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Jaju said that the India-Kazakhstan Defence Cooperation Expo will open huge windows of opportunities for B2B interactions between industries on both sides. "I'm aware that some companies are in an active dialogue stage with the Kazakh establishment. With India's strengths in software coupled with strengths in hardware manufacturing, India is poised to be one of the major electronics manufacturing hubs in the world. The defence military complex that we have in India has participation from both public and private sector companies," he further added.

"India has an INR 35,000 crore in defence exports target for the next five years, which is an increase from the current INR 1000 crores. This is a substantial improvement but if we work together, we can look forward to achieving this," SP Shukla, Chairman, FICCI Defence & Aerospace

S P Shukla, Chairman of FICCI Defence and Aerospace Committee SP Shukla said Kazakhstan is our largest trade partner in defence manufacturing. "India has an INR 35,000 crore in defence exports target for the next five years, which is an increase from the current INR 1000 crores. This is a substantial improvement but if we work together, we can look forward to achieving this," he said. 

We have talked about the numbers, potential and the scope. As we further work together, we will see more similarities between the two countries. We need to create synergies between the two nations and further cement the existing bilateral relations, Shukla added.

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